Web Designer & Developer

Making WordPress more client‑friendly

WordPress is already very easy to use out of the box, but here’s a few tips on how to make it even simpler for your clients when using WordPress as a CMS for their website. (Without having to use plugins or hacks).

Add a custom login logo

Adding your client’s logo to their WordPress login screen is easy, just add the following code to a functions.php file or to a custom plugin:

Edit client permissions

Another good idea is to create a custom role for your client so you can have complete control over what they can and can’t change. e.g. You could give them permission to change the navigation menu, or add and remove other users, without having to give them full Administrator privileges.

Start by adding the following to functions.php (these are the default privileges for ‘Editor’), then choose which capabilities you want them to have.

One thing to note – if you edit the capabilities after a role has already been created, you’ll have to add the following to your functions.php above the previous code or the changes won’t show up.

remove_role('client');

(If you don’t remove the role first, WordPress sees that it has already been created, then skips the rest of the function). Don’t leave this in your functions.php permanently though, or WordPress will add and remove the role every time the file is loaded.

Hide unused features

Often when using WordPress as a CMS, I don’t utilise all of its features (i.e. comments, links) so I like to hide these options from clients to make the Admin area easier for them to use.

To hide unwanted features from the navigation menu and Admin Toolbar, add the following code to functions.php, then choose which features you want hide.

Keep in mind that users can still access these features, they’re just hidden from the menus. If you want to restrict access to certain features, see ‘Edit client permissions’ above.

Hide unnecessary meta boxes

Lastly, I’d recommend logging in as the client and hiding the meta boxes they don’t need. In the WordPress Admin area, simply click the ‘Screen Options’ drop-down at the top right and then uncheck what you want to hide. Easy!